• The man who claimed the "world's record" for traveling the farthest distance on a zip line attached only to his hair was killed in April as he similarly attempted to cross the Teesta River in West Bengal, India, on a zip line.

He died of a heart attack, and since observers were unclear whether his limpness was part of the performance, he hung lifeless for 45 minutes.

(He was identified in news reports as a "Guinness Book" record-holder, but as with many such claims, the Guinness Book has no such category.) [BBC News, 4-29-2013]

• A 22-year-old man was killed in March attempting to rope-swing from the picturesque, 140-foot-high Corona Arch near Moab, Utah, trying to emulate a famous 2012 Internet video at the arch, "World's Largest Rope Swing." This man, however, apparently overestimated the length of rope he would need to launch himself off the arch to begin his swing -- and crashed to the ground. [KSL-TV (Salt Lake City), 3-25-2013]